Baseball’s next trade deadline – and an example of a former Giant and A who didn’t quite make it under the deadline

With the July 31 trade deadline over, baseball’s next trade deadline is Aug. 31. It’s a big difference. Here’s a quick explanation:

First, a player must be put on waivers. If he’s claimed by more than one team, he’s awarded to the team with the worst record – first in the league the player’s in, then the other league.

The team that has a player claimed can simply let the player go (it’s how the Giants got Cody Ross in 2010), trade him (it’s how the A’s got Stephen Drew in 2012) or pull him back (that’s often the case).

If the player clears waivers, he can be traded to any team.

A different sort of example is Dave Henderson back in 1987, which my Baseball Sunday column cites. Henderson always seemed to step up his game in the postseason, but he arrived too late after his trade to San Francisco to help the Giants in the ’87 playoffs. The next three seasons, he was in the World Series with the A’s. You can read the column here.

Also in Baseball Sunday: Shea Hey (the best team in baseball didn’t upgrade) and The Bull Pen (Bud Norris, Jason Giambi, Robby Thompson and Miguel Tejada etc.)